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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov | |
| Date of birth | February 19, 1983 | |
| Place of birth | Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria | |
| Height | 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) | |
| Weight | 152 kg (340 lb) | |
| Web presence | website | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Sadogatake | |
| Current rank | Ōzeki | |
| Record | 370-197-14 | |
| Debut | November, 2002 | |
| Highest rank | Ōzeki (January, 2006) | |
| Yūshō | 1 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Jonokuchi) |
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| Sanshō | Outstanding Performance (2) Fighting Spirit (3) |
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* Career information is correct as of Jan 2010. |
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Kotoōshū Katsunori (琴欧洲 勝紀) (born February 19, 1983 as Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov, Bulgarian: Калоян Стефанов Махлянов, in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria) is a professional sumo wrestler or rikishi. He made his debut in 2002, reaching the top division just two years later. In 2005 he reached the rank of ōzeki or 'champion', the second-highest level in the sumo ranking system behind only yokozuna. On May 24, 2008, Kotoōshū made history by becoming the first European sumo wrestler to win an Emperor's Cup.[1]
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He was originally a Greco-Roman wrestler, coached by his father, and by the age of 14 he had already won a European championship. He was accepted by the Bulgarian National Sports Academy where he majored in wrestling.[2] He hoped to compete for Bulgaria in the 2000 Olympic Games, but as his weight increased beyond the 120 kg upper limit, he switched instead to sumo.[3] He was recruited by Sadogatake stable, whose stablemaster was impressed by his filial duty of sending money home to his parents.[4]
Mahlyanov's professional sumo debut was in November 2002, starting in the lowest-ranked jonokuchi division. He was given the shikona of Kotoōshū, derived from his place of origin — koto, shared by all wrestlers at his stable, and ōshū, meaning Europe. (Following the September 2006 tournament, he changed one of the characters in his ring name, 州 becoming 洲, although the pronunciation, shū, is the same for both.) He posted kachikoshi (winning records in tournaments) throughout his early career, going 71-15 in the five divisions below the makuuchi top division. He reached makuuchi in September 2004, only 11 tournaments after his professional debut, the fastest rise since the introduction of the six tournaments per year system in 1958.[5]
Upon reaching the top division he had kachikoshi winning records for four consecutive tournaments, being promoted to sanyaku at the rank of komusubi before the March 2005 basho (sumo tournament). At the rank of komusubi, he made his first makekoshi (losing tournament) record, and was demoted to maegashira again before returning to the higher rank of komusubi after a strong 10-5 record in May.
In the July 2005 tournament Kotoōshū defeated Asashōryū for the first time with an overarm (uwatenage) throw, bringing to an end a run of 24 consecutive bout victories for the yokozuna. He also was the runner up in the tournament, winning an "outstanding performance" sanshō prize.
Kotoōshū was promoted to sekiwake for the following September tournament and won his first twelve bouts, finishing with an exceptional 13-2 runner up record and only losing the tournament victory after a play-off bout with Asashōryū. An 11-4 record in the final (November) tournament of 2005 was his third runner-up performance in a row and included another victory over the otherwise dominant Asashōryū. This led to his promotion to the rank of ōzeki on November 30, 2005. His three-tournament record (on which ōzeki promotions are based) was 36-9. His promotion coincided with the retirement of his stablemaster, former yokozuna Kotozakura.[2]
His promotion to ōzeki took only 19 tournaments from his professional sumo debut. Although he was not the youngest ozeki ever, this represents the most rapid rise for a wrestler entering sumo from the bottom jonokuchi division. (Certain experienced amateur wrestlers can be given dispensation to start in the third-highest makushita division.) He is also the first wrestler of European birth to hold the ōzeki rank, and one of only seven non-Japanese to have achieved it (the others being Konishiki, Akebono, and Musashimaru from Hawaii; and Asashōryū, Hakuhō and Harumafuji from Mongolia). Of those seven, four (Akebono, Musashimaru, Asashōryū and Hakuhō) later ascended to sumo's highest rank of yokozuna.
After his promotion, Kotoōshū was somewhat restricted by a knee injury.[6] He was also criticised for relying too much on the henka technique– jumping to the side at the initial charge.[7] It is not considered to be a move worthy of someone at his high rank.
Kotoōshū managed only three double-figure scores in 2006, and none at all in 2007, only doing enough to maintain his rank. Shortly before the November 2007 tournament he dislocated his right knee in training. Clearly troubled by the injury he pulled out on the 7th day, the first time in his career that he has had to withdraw from a tournament. He preserved his ōzeki rank with a 9-6 score in January 2008. In the Osaka tournament of March 2008 he injured his left arm in a match with Kakuryu on the 4th day and withdrew on Day 9 with only two wins. It was anticipated that he would be demoted to sekiwake.[8]
Although he faced demotion in the May 2008 tournament, he won 12 consecutive bouts including dominating victories against yokozuna Asashoryu on the 11th day and yokozuna Hakuho on the 12th day. He was easily defeated by Aminishiki on the 13th day, but came back strong to defeat Ama on the 14th day, becoming the first European to win a top division championship.[9] His father was in the crowd to witness his victory.[9] He was also congratulated by the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.[10]
Kotoōshū was unable to follow up his victory with a push for yokozuna promotion, producing scores of only 9-6 and 8-7 in the next two tournaments. In October 2008 he denied allegations by disgraced former wrestler Wakanohō that he had thrown matches against Kotoōshū in return for money, saying "I am saddened by this. It is all lies."[11] Wakanohō subsequently retracted his comments. He produced scores of 10-5 in the first two tournaments of 2009, the best record amongst his fellow ozeki. In the May 2009 tournament, he finished the tournament with a 9-6 score. However, he ended yokozuna Hakuho's 33-bout winning streak on the 14th day.[12] In July 2009 he was in contention for the yusho until the final day and finished runner-up with an impressive 13-2 score.
Kotoōshū is a tall and rather light rikishi at 203 cm (6 feet, 8 inches) and 152 kg (334 pounds). In comparison, former yokozuna (grand champion) Akebono, at the same height, weighed 235 kg (517 pounds) at his peak. Yokozuna Asashōryū is about the same weight, but is only 184 cm in height. Kotoōshū primarily relies on so-called 'belt-throws' to win his sumo bouts. Recently he has typically preferred to take a hidari-yotsu (left-hand inside grip) on his opponent's mawashi (the belt that is fixed around the wrestler's waist), although he is right-handed and his overall profile still shows him preferring migi-yotsu (right-hand inside grip). He uses his long arms and quick footwork to counteract his high center of gravity and relatively light weight. His most common winning kimarite is yorikiri, the force out, followed by uwatenage, the outer arm throw.
Kotoōshū has remarked that his tournament victory was partially due to a weight gain of five kilos which enabled him to be sturdier against his opponents.[13]
In May 2009 Kotoōshū announced his engagement to 29 year old Asako Ando from Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, who he has dated for the last five years.[16] They were married in February 2010, on St. Valentine's Day, at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, with around 600 guests including yokozuna Hakuho attending.[17]
| year in sumo | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | x | x | x | x | East Maegashira #14 9–6 |
West Maegashira #10 11–4 F |
| 2005 | East Maegashira #4 9–6 |
West Komusubi 4–11 |
East Maegashira #5 10–5 |
East Komusubi 12–3 O |
East Sekiwake 13–2–P F |
East Sekiwake 11–4 FO |
| 2006 | West Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
| 2007 | East Ōzeki 9–6 |
East Ōzeki 8–7 |
West Ōzeki 9–6 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
East Ōzeki 2–5–8 |
| 2008 | West Ōzeki 9–6 |
East Ōzeki 2–7–6 |
West Ōzeki 14–1 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
| 2009 | East Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 13–2 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
| 2010 | East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki – |
x | x | x | x |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Championship Retired Demoted from makuuchi Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s) P=Playoff(s) |
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